Tijuana Cops Suspended After Forcing Strip Tease From Suspect

TIJUANA, Mexico ~ (El Mexicano/NY Daily News/CNN International) ~ Fifteen police officers have been suspended after they were seen in a video allegedly forcing a detained woman to perform a topless dance in exchange for her release.

The incident took place on March 2nd when the unidentified woman and a male companion were arrested for possession of stolen bank cards and checks. According to El Mexicano newspaper, the cops offered to release them in exchange for a strip tease dance. In a grainy video released by the newspaper, the woman, with her face blurred, can be seen posing on a table and flaunting some skin for the officers, who tell her to “turn, turn” and that she’s wearing “too many clothes”, before getting naked from the waist up. She then gives one officer a lap dance which turns into a grope session; that individual officer was not identified.

Among those reportedly in attendance was Víctor Manuel de la Cruz Candelaria, head of La Presa Rural district. Candelaria denied taking part in the incident and also said the woman performed her racy routine on her own free will. “The judge had already ordered her released since she didn’t directly participate in the crime,” he said, “she’s a woman of the night.” Mayor Carlos Bustamante has suspended the officers, who are the subject of an investigation. “They’ve already been suspended and we’re looking to fire them permanently,” he said during a press conference, “what these people have done lacks morals.”